ISRAEL: The Good Fence Policy

Since the civil war began in Lebanon 15
months ago, Israel's northern border has been quietand Jerusalem
intends to keep it that way. The Palestinian guerrillas who once
launched sporadic terrorist attacks on Israel border settlements have
left "Fatahland" to fight against Christians and Syrians in the north.
In effect, the southern half of Lebanon has been left without any
government, and its 360,000 Moslem, Christian and Druze
inhabitantsmostly poor and scrambling farmershave been abandoned to
fend for themselves. Israel is moving determinedly into the vacuum.
TIME Jerusalem Bureau Chief Donald Neff last week toured the
mountainous 80-mile Israeli-Lebanese...